Fallen
by Queen Sunstar
Summary: An ordinary day turns tragic as a massive earthquake grips the Mushroom Kingdom. As the survivors try to piece together their shatered lives, Bowser kidnaps Peach. Even he is in for a surprise when Peach leads him to a dark secret the should be left alone
1. Chapter 1

**Queen Sunstar: YoshiLover113 has made a request that I write a story based on Mario and Peach with Luigi, Bowser, and Yoshi thrown in for the adventure. Here is the summery. A massive earthquake shatters the mushroom kingdom just as Skyland drifts into Mushroom Kingdom airspace. Bowser decides to use the chaos as a cover to kidnap Peach, but he is in for a surprise when Peach's brooch starts to glow, and Peach walks through his own castle as if in a trance. She leads him to an undiscovered room in his dungeon. What he finds in that room is a scroll showing how to defeat the red hero for good.**

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**Fallen**

A breeze stirred in the trees below her balcony. Princess Peach Toadstool took no notice of it. Her mind was else where. Her thoughts centered on a red clothed plumber which she loved so much. She knew her father didn't approve, but he had not stopped their friendship. She wondered if he secretly liked Mario, despite his rough exterior. She looked up to the sky. Off in the horizon, the last light of the day slowly gave up the ghost. Just barely, she could make out the north lip of Skyland as it drifted ever closer to them. In a few days Night Week would begin. Peach couldn't wait. It would be a week of celebrating the sacredness of the night. There would be parties to throw, tons of other things to plan, and of course, the final night dedicated to honoring Twila, the moon. Peaches mind was suddenly yanked back to the present as her balcony shuddered. She leapt backward into her doorway, feeling the quake already ending. This wasn't normal. Mushroom Kingdom was no where near a fault line so it should not be getting earthquakes. In fact, the only way for an earthquake to occur was for the great super volcano, Mushroom Hole, to be active, but it was dead. The nearest volcano, DK Peak, was too far away to cause them to have an earthquake.

"Peach, you okay?" Daisy asked, walking into Peach's room. While Peach was blond with blue eyes, Daisy was a brunette with blue eyes. Peach wore a pink gown with gold inlaid highlights. Daisy wore a yellow dress with orange highlights. The two princesses were the best of friends and were sisters.

"I'm fine." Peach answered, "Have you decided which dresses to wear during the Night Week celebrations?"

"We just had an earthquake and all you can think of is dresses?" Daisy arched an eyebrow, "I'm thinking that what I'm wearing will do fine."

"Come on, sister! That old thing? You need a new dress! We're going shopping tomorrow and that's that! We had a tiny quake, big deal." Peach giggled at Daisy's look of pure horror at the mention of shopping, "Your dress is so out of date and it barely fits you as it is."

"I'm busy tomorrow! Really! I'm needed back home in Sarsaland!" Daisy protested.

"Nice try. Dad just talked with mom about Sarsaland. Mom is handling it fine." Peach grinned, "tomorrow, you go shopping with me, even if I have to hunt you down and strap you to Yoshi's back upside down. Yoshi has agreed to be our pack horse for the day."

"You'll have to find me first." Daisy tried.

"I won't, miss late riser." Peach smiled.

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It was quiet and peaceful inside the pipe house Mario and Luigi shared. The house wasn't big, nor was it tiny. It was small, but to the brothers, it was cozy. The little house had a single bedroom in the back and a single big room in the front. The big room was divided by a low wall that separated a tiny kitchen nook from the rest of the main room. Luigi was in the kitchen, working on getting dinner out on the table in the main room before Mario got home from a plumbing job up north, in the outskirts of Toad Town. He was just straining the noodles for his pasta when he felt the quake.

"Mama mia!" He squealed, grabbing his pasta and diving under the table in the main room.

That was where Mario found him when he walked into the door. Mario sighed, shook his head, and crouched down to his still quaking brother. He had felt the quake, but he decided not to worry about it.

"Weegee, I see you saved dinner. You can come out now. The quake is over. It was only a small one." Mario reached under the table and pulled Luigi out from under the table muttering, "grow a backbone will you?" under his breath.

Luigi blushed, "You know I'm terrified of practically everything."

"You need to grow a backbone! I'm going to go take a shower. Are you going to get dinner ready?" Mario asked.

"Grow a backbone? But I already have a backbone!" Luigi cried out, "What do you mean by me growing a second one? Am I sagging somewhere, Mr. pasta gut?"

Mario sighed, "It's a saying, Luigi."

"Well then, unsay it!" Luigi demanded.

"Sometimes I wonder why I even bother to come home. Grow a backbone means to stop being so scared all the time." Mario explained.

"It was an earthquake! Mushroom Kingdom doesn't get earthquakes! The nearest fault line is on the south side of Pipe Land and it is not even considered an actual fault line! Mushroom Hole is a dead super volcano! The nearest actual fault line is in Ladias Plains, a part of Beanbean Kingdom! Something is wrong, seriously wrong! I had every right to be terrified!" Luigi exploded, "Go make your own dinner for once!" he threw the pot of pasta at Mario, who ended up covered in noodles.

"Luigi! I know that! I also know that Bowser recently started pumping lava from under Lake Mushroom up north! We are bound to feel some small quakes as the lava is funneled under us!" Mario shot back, glaring up at his brothers angry blue eyes.

"I knew that!" Luigi flipped on the news, "Why is it a 5.2 on the Sol Scale?"

"I don't know!" Mario steamed, storming for the bathroom in the bedroom.

They didn't talk to each other for the rest of the night. Luigi grabbed his pillow and green blanket and went to sleep on the couch in the main room. Mario holed himself up in the bedroom.

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_The ground split, revealing a black river. He could feel the evil radiating from it long before he saw it. He shuddered fearfully, knowing what that river was, and what it met to do. This was wrong, horribly wrong, and it was his fault. He knew he should have stopped Bowser from drilling under the Mushroom Kingdom to that lava vent. He had been greedy, wanting hot lava flowing beneath the castle giving out heat. It met that his cold rooms were warm and toasty again. Kamik paled, watching as a curious toad got too close to the hideous black river. Some of the sludge rose, wrapped around the toad for a second, and sank back into itself. The toad sank to the ground, shuddering. Kamik heard himself screaming. The toad looked up, its skin faintly purple and its eyes red. For about two seconds, the evil held the toad. Then a bright light hit and removed the evil. The Toad sank to the ground, dead._

"_My god, no! this can't be true! It can't be unleashed! It was barely contained last time, but at a terrible sacrifice!" Kamik heard himself scream. _

_The sludge rumbled. The ground bucked and heaved, buildings crumbling. Flames erupted to the sky, devouring what remained greedily. A loud groan split the air, tearing Kamiks attention back to the sky. His mouth hung open in horror. The sky itself seemed to be splitting. He recognized Skyland. Screams of pure terror filled the air as horrified toads and toadettes watched helplessly as Skyland sank even lower toward Mushroom Kingdom. Kamik watch, helplessly sick at heart as the once proud Mushroom Kingdom collapsed. Skyland finally hit the ground somewhere outside Toad Town. It slid, its great bulk driving it over the town and castle. A huge dust cloud rose, obscuring everything. Then, somewhere in the darkness a very familiar male voice howled his grief at losing the kingdoms he loved. Soon, even that voice fell silent._

"Aah!" Kamik woke, sitting up in bed. Sweat beaded his brow, and he was gasping, "It was just a dream, just a nightmare!" He bolted from bed and ran to his bathroom where he vomited, shaking from the dream still fresh in his mind. He continued to gasp.

"Kamik? You all right?" came an older female voice.

"I'm just fine, Grandma Kammy! Just a bad dream!" Kamik couldn't stop his voice from shaking.

"Son?" another female voice, much younger then Kammys, asked, clearly concerned, "You were screaming about a black river, and Skyland falling to crush the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Ma, I'm fine! That's the last time I eat cheese before bed!" Kamik hoped his attempt at a joke would settle the two women. It didn't help. The door to the bathroom opened to reveal a pair of female magikoopas. One was clearly older then the other by her white hair. The other woman, an older female version of Kamik, looked concerned. Kammy was wearing a purple nightgown, and was resting a hand on a bar on the wall. She wore glasses, but preferred to prowl at night without them. Kamelia was wearing a light blue night gown and was holding her wand which was lit.

"Fine?" Kamelia strode to her son, "You were screaming about how Skyland fell from the sky."

"I was? Sorry to wake you." Kamik apologized.

From the corridor, came yet another voice, "What is going on here? I was sleeping like a baby when I heard some hullabaloo about how Skyland was falling on Mushroom Kingd-ow! Who left a shell on these stairs?" the voice became strangely high pitched, "Oof! That's so gonna leave a nice mark!"

Kamik wiped his mouth, "I'll go deal with King Bowser."

"No you will not. You will tell me your dream. Kamelia will go deal with her foster son." Kammy put her foot down.

"It was a dream, only a dream!" Kamik protested.

"Really? Or was it a vision?" Kammy narrowed her eyes.

"It was a dream!" Kamik screamed, "I don't have visions! That is Ma's thing! I'm only half a magikoopa!"

"Kamik, Your mother and I heard you screaming. Nightmares don't make you scream. Visions do. You saw something bad happen. Did you at least see enough to determine when it will happen, and if it can be stopped?" Kammy asked.

"What part of the words it was a dream to you not comprehend? I'm fine! Stop pushing the issue!" Kamik groaned, seeing Bowsers face come into view, "oh come on! I only had a nightmare! If I woke you, sorry. I'm going back to bed!"

"Kamik, speak. that's an order!" Bowser ordered.

"I had a nightmare, people!" Kamik responded, "May I please go back to bed?"

"Kamik, what did you see? I can make it an order." Bowser scowled, "It had better be good."

Sighing, Kamik told them everything he could remember of the dream. Kammys face went from concern to shock. Bowser looked like he might be sick, while Kamelia remained expressionless.

"Kamelia, come. You two, go to bed." Kammy ordered.

Bowser complied, his face pale. Kamik walked toward his bed, but went to the window instead. Deep inside, he was worried. If the Mushroom Kingdom and Skyland fell, it would cause massive chaos. Those of Shyland, and those of Nimbus land would panic and bail out of their floating lands, fearing that their lands would sink and crash too. Of the three floating lands, Skyland was the second largest. Kamik guessed that they would be thankful that Shyland didn't fall. Shyland was the largest kingdom in the world. If it were to fall, half the world would perish. Kamik sighed, thinking why it couldn't be Starworld that would fall. Starworld was a tiny island that floated well up in the atmosphere. It was surrounded by a bubble of magic that enabled the royal yoshies that lived there to breathe. Starworld was tiny. If it were to fall, it would probably bounce back up into the sky. Kamik found himself chuckling. He went to his bed, but sleep took a long time coming.

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The morning dawned bright and clear. Peach was up and dressed long before Brighton rose to bring in the day. She walked to her sister's room, and woke Daisy.

"It's early! It's only 6 AM! I am not getting up at this ungodly hour!" Daisy protested.

"It is the proper time of day for a princess to get up. Move it, or I'll-"

"I'm moving!"

"I didn't mean at a snail pace!"

"I don't do mornings!"

"Up, or I really will push the button!"

"I'm up!"

"That's better. Now meet me in the carriage house. We'll get breakfast along the way." Peach left.

The carriage house sat off to the side of the castles long driveway. Already, the carriage master had the gleaming pink and gold open aired carriage out and was in the middle of harnessing Yoshi and another chunky red Yoshi to the carriage. Peach called out to the yoshies, who trumpeted greetings to her. She petted Yoshi first, and stroked the red yoshi's velvety nose.

"_That Firestone. He good workmate!_" Yoshi butted Peach for more attention. His sensitive nose picked up the sent of apple mints, and he began to nose her pockets for the treats. Firestone did the same. Peach smiled as the Yoshies tried to shove their big noses into her pockets. Firestone snorted, his long leathery red tongue caught in her pocket. He lifted his head and shook it. Peach nearly lost her footing. Faintly, she heard a scream of fear coming from the porch above her. She groaned, carefully prying Firestones tongue out of her pocket. She fed them their apple mints, and looked up to see a white faced Toadsworth. Great, now they would never get to leave.

"P-p-p-princess! Get away from that brute!" he sputtered.

"What's up?" Daisy asked, joining Peach.

Toadsworths face went dark red, "What did you say, young lady?"

"I said what's up." Daisy had the glint in her eyes.

"Daisy!" Peach tried, horrified at what she was doing.

"DAISY FLORAL TOADSTOOL! WAS THAT IMPROPER LANGUAGE I JUST HEARD COMING FROM YOUR MOUTH?" Toadsworths face darkened to purple.

"Yep, it's da improper language we all just looove!" Daisy smiled sweetly at Toadsworth.

"Daisy!" Peach clamped a hand to Daisy's mouth, "Stop before you cause him to have a massive coronary!"

Toadsworths mouth opened, but no sound came out. His face was so dark it was impossible to tell what color it was. All they heard was one word, deadly calm, "Leave!" and boarded the carriage. Peach took the reins, and clucked to the yoshies, who started forward at a trot.

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Luigi was gone when Mario got up the next morning. There was no note, or no breakfast waiting in the pot on the stove. Mario put together an omelet, and ate it for breakfast. He knew Luigi was smarting from being told to stop being such a scaredycat. As Mario thought, he realized Luigi had a good reason to be afraid. Earthquakes just don't occur inside the Mushroom Kingdom. As he was cleaning up his breakfast dishes, he found a note written in Luigi's perfect handwriting.

_Dear Bro,_

_I've gone to answer an emergency call at Bowser's Castle. I bet it is a case of Bowser stuck in a tube. By the way, when that really did happen that one time, it was funny. I forgive you. You are right. I do need to grow a backbone. The eggs are in the fridge. Go do your thing. I'll be home around noon, hopefully. I may be late depending on the job._

_Your loving little bro,_

_Luigi_

Mario smiled, and left a return message for Luigi to find saying he was going to head down to Bandits Way to check out the rumor of a cracked black pipe carrying lava toward Koopalin. Mario had made each of the large red tubes funneling lava toward Koopalin with Luigi's help. He didn't remember ever making a black pipe. Mario packed himself a lunch and added a few fire flowers, stars, and ice flowers into his pack just to be safe. He didn't know what he was walking in to and it was better to be safe then sorry. Mario remembered to grab a few 1-up shrooms as well, and finally stepped out into the sunshine. He wondered what would be waiting for him in Bandits Way.

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**Queen Sunstar: And thus, ends chapter one. I will do my best to get chapter two out before Christmas, but I can't guarantee anything. Most likely, chapter two well be out after Christmas. Until then, Ciao!**

_(Preview of Chapter Two)_

Mario stared in horror at the burning plains that was Bandits Way. The air was thick with smoke, and sulfur. Mario downed a fire flower to help himself cope with the heat and flames. Through the haze, he could see an overturned carriage which he recognized as belonging to Mushroom Kingdom. He ran toward it upon hearing a Yoshi scream in pain. He coughed, his eyes watering. The carriage seemed to swim before his eyes. He blinked. The heat was terrible, and the fire flower wasn't helping him. Mario downed an ice flower and sighed in relief as the flowers cooling effects flowed through him. He froze the flames around the carriage. In the front of the carriage, a red Yoshi lay trapped under the carriage, its skin blistered and badly burned. It raised its head and locked its wet tear stained face on Mario and lowed weakly.

"It's okay, buddy, it'll be okay, I promise." Mario knew what needed to be done, what the Yoshi was waiting for him to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He cooled the Yoshi's cooked skin, and searched for survivors. Yoshi footsteps led away from the accident. Mario determined that it was carrying a rider, and that it was hurt. Mario then turned toward the gully, and Midas River. He crept to the edge and forced himself to look.

"PEACH!"

_(End Preview)_

**I know, I'm cruel. Ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

"You say the pipe just melted with no warning?" Luigi stared at the reddish slime that used to be a red lave pipe in shocked silence. These pipes could withstand temperatures hotter then even that of Brighton, the Great Lord of the sky, at his max burn. Luigi even had Brighton test it out. Why had the pipe melted? He pulled out what looked like a long thermometer sticking out of a yellow box. Carefully, he dipped the thermometer into the slime. The box pinged a response.

"It's not caused by high heat, or any kind of acid." Luigi muttered.

"I expect a full repair job done for little or no cost." Bowser replied, "pipes don't melt like this. Especially pipes forged by you and your brother."

"I know. I don't know what to tell you. I'll forge you a new pipe to replace it, and what is this?" Luigi pulled out a pair of tweezers and a Petri dish. Using the tweezers, he picked up a bit of black goop. It twisted and lurched as if it were alive.

"I ain't seen anything like that before." Bowser said, "It's as if it is alive."

"These pipes are made of diamond titanium, which has no known melting point." Luigi slipped on his work gloves and pulled out his diamond tipped saw. He cut away the damaged piping and replaced it with a iron replacement. He would be back in two weeks with a freshly forged replacement.

Luigi used the pipes to travel, getting home well before noon. He found Mario's note, read it, and headed outside to the forge a new pipe for Bowser. It would take him two weeks to finish it due to the long cooling and heating of the metals required to make the pipe Bowser needed. First, he gathered the metals he needed, and found he was short of titanium. That met a trip to the metal deposits inside Mushroom Hole. Luigi decided that since he was going to Mushroom Hole, he'd take a quick inventory of their current supplies and stock up on what they needed.

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The drive had been quiet and peaceful. Both yoshies plodded along at an easy lope. As they crested the hill above Bandits Way, Lower Mushroom Kingdom stretched out before them. This was a relatively new acquisition of land. It was also thousands of feet lower then Upper Mushroom Kingdom. Lower Mushroom Kingdom was a belt of fertile lowlands stretching from the Forbidden Lands far east to the Great Ocean in the west, and south to Sarsaland which could just be seen as a strip of hot desert meeting the deep azure sky. The land was mostly farmland, and it sported only one main city, Rose City, which was the princesses designation. They began the trip down into Lower Mushroom Kingdom, which met crossing over the gully that separated the highlands from the lowlands. That also met crossing Midas River, which cut through the gully.

"It sure is beautiful out today." Daisy said.

Peach started to answer, but stopped. Something tugged at her mind, screaming that something was not right. Yoshi stopped, raised his snout, and sniffed the air.

"_Scared._" the green Yoshi shuddered, fighting his instincts to run. Firestone took a step backward, eyes rolling in fear.

"What's going on?" Peach asked.

The world took a drastic change. Several explosions rocketed through the ground. The yoshies bolted, and the ground bubbled, throwing up pools of red fire. Firestone screamed, some of the flames hitting his coat. Daisy was screaming, and Firestone sank to the ground, moaning. There was a loud crack, and Yoshi howled. The carriage flipped over, throwing Peach to the ground, and Daisy hit near her. The ground bucked, and Daisy screamed again. Peach scrambled to her hands and knees, trying to crawl to Daisy. Another heave and Peach found herself tumbling closer to the edge of the gully. The ground was a living thing. It groaned, shaking itself. Daisy screamed again. Peach saw the cracks appearing, and clawed her way towards safety. With a resounding boom, the precipice broke free of its motherland and fell. Daisy saw it all happen in slow motion. She didn't think. Her mind was numb. Vaguely aware, she pulled Yoshi from the harness, mounted, and fled. She knew that Peach was dead. There was no way one could survive a fall like that. She never knew when the darkness came, or how she ended up back in Toad Town.

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Mario stared in horror at the burning plains that was Bandits Way. The air was thick with smoke, and sulfur. Mario downed a fire flower to help himself cope with the heat and flames. Through the haze, he could see an overturned carriage which he recognized as belonging to Mushroom Kingdom. He ran toward it upon hearing a Yoshi scream in pain. He coughed, his eyes watering. The carriage seemed to swim before his eyes. He blinked. The heat was terrible, and the fire flower wasn't helping him. Mario downed an ice flower and sighed in relief as the flowers cooling effects flowed through him. He froze the flames around the carriage. In the front of the carriage, a red Yoshi lay trapped under the carriage, its skin blistered and badly burned. It raised its head and locked its wet tear stained face on Mario and lowed weakly.

"It's okay, buddy, it'll be okay, I promise." Mario knew what needed to be done, what the Yoshi was waiting for him to do, but he couldn't bring himself to do it. He cooled the Yoshi's cooked skin, and searched for survivors. Yoshi footsteps led away from the accident. Mario determined that it was carrying a rider, and that it was hurt. Mario then turned toward the gully, and Midas River. He crept to the edge and forced himself to look.

"PEACH!" his cry cut through the haze.

"Mario! Is that you?" her cry came as a relief to his ears, "I'm okay!"

"Peach!" Mario's mind worked fast, trying to come up with a way to save Peach. The Yoshi lowed again, and Mario turned. An idea formed in his mind. He hoped it would work.

"Can you eat this mushroom?" Mario pulled out a 1-up shroom and opened the Yoshi's mouth. He watched as it began to chew and swallow the mushroom. Within seconds, the shroom took effect. Just like Mario had hoped, the Yoshi healed, and Mario set it free. Spying several ? Blocks, Mario raced over to them and proceeded to hit them. Four coins, a fire flower, and a pair of wings later, Mario returned to the Yoshi, who gulped down the wings. The change was instantaneous. Firestone went from fat earth Yoshi to slim parayoshi with long legs and the ability to speak.

"_Da names Firestone. Pleased ta mecha._" Firestone greeted, "_ah'm thankfal fo watcha did fo me. How may ah be yah service ta ya?_"

His accent suggested a Skyland origin, but it sounded older.

"I need your wings, Firestone. I'm Mario. Peach, the woman I love is down in the gully." Mario introduced himself, "I've never heard your accent before. Even my uncle, Brightstar, his accent isn't like yours"

"_Dats cuss Ah'm frum da ground. Hop un. Ah'll take ya duwn ta resca hur._" Firestone waited until Mario climbed into his saddle, "_Skyland isut dall in da sky. His Radiance cuntrols a bit o ground. It a beautifal place. Ya seen it befah. Years agah._"

He took wing, and spiraled down the gully. Peach clung tightly to the precipice which lay across the gully. Below her, rocks tumbled, and the waters of Midas River rushed past her. Steam rose around her. Wait, Mario started, Midas doesn't steam! What is happening to his world? What if he couldn't save it? Firestone lurched, his long neck stretching, his tongue extended, trying to reach Peach. Mario realized what was happening. The water was flashing to steam, and he needed to snap out of it and focus. Firestone reached further. Peach saw the tongue and stretched up for it. A dip brought it close to her, and she grabbed it. Firestone retracted his long tongue, bringing Peach close enough for Mario to grab. Mario stared ahead, his mind rushing through the possibilities of what was causing the river to steam.

"Mario!" Peach screamed, trying to get his attention.

The red plumber turned, blinked, and reached for Peach, pulling her close to him. He held her in a tight embrace, breathing in her peach perfume. He never wanted to let go. Peach wrapped her arms around his neck, and buried her face in his chest. She sobbed in relief that he'd come to save her just like he always did.

"Mario, you came, just like I knew you would!" Peach sobbed.

_Kill her…_

Mario lurched suddenly, causing Peach to look up in concern, "Mario?"

Mario closed his eyes as if he were in pain. Where had that thought come from? Was it one of his own? Mario refused to believe that he would think such hurtful words. He could never harm Peach. He loved her so much it hurt him to see her like this.

"Mario?" Peach sat up, and Mario slumped next to her, "MARIO!" she shook him.

"Peach! Listen to me! You have to get away from me! Run!" Mario found himself screaming at her, "I'm dangerous!" _What is happening to me?_

"Mario? What is wrong? Why are you acting like this?" Peach asked, thoroughly confused.

"What? I'm fine." Mario arched an eyebrow, "why are you acting funny?"

"This isn't funny, Mario!" Peach glared at him, "What is wrong with you?"

Mario blinked, and jerked, causing Firestone to yelp in surprise, "Peach, I don't know what came over me. I think I may be going insane."

"Mario! You are probably tired." Peach suddenly remembered Daisy, "where is Daisy, and Yoshi?"

"They got away, and I bet they are waiting back home." Mario looked away, "I really think I may be going insane. I want you to stay as far away from me as you can. Now don't look at me like that. This is a battle I must fight alone. I love you, and that's why I don't want you near me until I figure out what the hell is wrong with me."

"Oh, Mario!" Peach hugged him, "Please, be okay! I understand what you are telling me, and I'll keep away from you. You better come home to me once you straightened yourself out or I'll hunt you down and beat some sense into you myself!"

"I will, love. I always will. This is a personal thing that I must face alone." Mario managed to smile.

All too soon, the ride came to an end. As he landed, Firestone reverted to himself. He knelt to let his riders climb off of his broad back before taking off to call to the other yoshies.

"_Yoshi and Daisy made it back safely._" he told them before heading over to the fruit trees to eat and converse with the other yoshies already there. Several yoshlings played near by the adults, having already been fed. Peach watched as Mario walked away from her. Her heart felt as if it would break. She knew he was right. He had to face this alone. Her gaze went skyward, where Skyland took up most of the sky. Tomorrow was the last time Brighton would be visible for a week. She sighed. Daisy had yet again gotten out of going shopping. Not to worry. They would hit the stores here tomorrow, for sure. If she had anything to say about it, Daisy was getting a new updated wardrobe. Where was Daisy? Walking into her castle, she soon found out where Daisy was.

"P-princess! Look at you! You are a mess!" Toadsworth ushered her into the nearest bathroom, "and to think, you were seen in this state!" he fussed around her, cleaning her up and getting her into a soft pink terrycloth robe.

"I'm okay, grandpa, thanks for asking." Peach muttered.

"If anyone saw you in this state! The horror! Oh, the horror!" Toadsworth ushered her into her room and helped her get dressed into a clean pink gown, "Much better. Are you okay, Princess?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Where is Daisy?" Peach asked.

"Daisy? She's in the infirmary. She has a slight concussion but other wise, she's fine. Yoshi, we may have to put him down. It depends on what the Vet says. He was really limping when he got here. And what do you think you are doing out of bed, young lady?" Toadsworth turned to the open doorway where a shocked Daisy stood.

"Peach is alive? Oh! I thought you were dead! How did you survive?" other then a bandage over her left eye, Daisy was fine.

"I'm not sure. I remember screaming like an idiot until I realized I wasn't falling anymore. Then Mario came and got me out with help from Firestone." Peach said, deciding to keep Mario's strange behavior to herself.

"Firestone? You mean, I didn't kill him?" Daisy asked, ignoring a very flustered Toadsworth who was trying to get her back to the infirmary.

"Mario had him with him. May be Mario saved him." Peach thought.

"Daisy! You heard the doctor! He doesn't want you up and walking!" Toadsworth demanded.

"Jeez, gramps! There is a difference in taking it easy and rest! I heard him say I was to take it easy and rest, which is what I'm doing! I'm not bedridden!" Daisy shot back.

"Daisy!" Peach cried out, horrified, "Please, you two! No fighting!"

"DAISY FLORAL TOADSTOOL! YOU WILL MARCH YOUR BUTT STRAIGHT TO BED THIS INSTANT!" Toadsworth bellowed.

"Father!" came a calm deep male voice from the doorway. Peach and Daisy both squealed in excitement and rushed to the doorway to hug King Toadstool.

King Toadstool was blond with blue eyes. His eyes were much darker then Peach and Daisy's eyes, and he could easily pass for their older brother then their father. He was a good head taller then his daughters, and he wore dark pants with a white shirt along with his customary white cape which had a red mushroom sewn onto it. His eyes were narrowed as he locked his gaze with that of Toadsworth.

"Father, calm yourself down. I asked you to watch over my daughters, not practically abuse them. Girls, I told you both to behave yourselves around him. Daisy, I already heard about what happened in Bandits Way. I'm thankful you both are okay. Father, you and I need to have a talk." King Toadstool hugged both of his girls, and Left with Toadsworth following him. They went into the Kings office.

"I care about the girls. When I saw daisy so pale, on the back of that Yoshi, I thought we lost her." Toadsworth started. King Toadstool held up his hands for silence.

"When will you learn? We are not some figureheads you must keep polished and looking beautiful at all times. My kingdom trusts me. I know, I made some mistakes like getting Princess Mushroom pregnant when I was 15. I stepped forward to fix my mistake, didn't I? I dealt with trying to raise Daisy on my own, and I did a good job with her, didn't I? Was it my fault that Mushroom ended up dying days after the birth? I don't think so. You wanted to send Daisy to some recluse nun house, but I stepped up to the plate and raised her. Through that, my kingdom learned to respect me. I have strengthened the Kingdom and I have added new lands to it. I can walk among my people as one of them. I am thankful that you sent me to Skyland to study under Brighton. He is a far better king then you ever were." King Toadstool knew that Toadsworth needed to hear this, but it still hurt to say the words, "our people want guidance and love, not some weak figureheads to admire from a distance."

"My rule may have been weak, but you have yet to experience the horrors of rebellions, wars you know you can't win, revolutions, and even attempts on your life." Toadsworth glared at his son, "don't forget, it was I who fathered you."

"You may be my father, but you will never be my king!" King Toadstool turned from Toadsworths shocked face.

"I never wanted to be your king." Toadsworth whispered at his sons back.

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Deep below the surface, the last of the rocks crumbled under a pressure that had never been released before. Toad town slept, unaware that their world was about to be changed and drastically.

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**Queen Sunstar: And this concludes chapter two. This chapter was mostly character development. Next chapter is the big bang chapter! Prepare for some major suspense, and cliffhangers! Also, there may be a possible character death. I'm going to be nice and not leave a preview this time. CIAO!**


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